1. You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve? NOTE: Do not assume that the stasis of the play is the same as the stasis of the video version that you are required to see. Only discuss the play in this and answers to the following questions.
The play takes place following the racial outbreak in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York on August 1991. A car carrying the Lubavitcher Hasidic rebbe was speeding, ignored the red light, and hit another car. This caused the car to swerve and kill a seven year old Black boy named Gavin Cato. It also injured his cousin. The Black community reacted with protest and some joined together and killed Yankel Rosenbaum, a Hasidic scholar. This caused greater racial outbreak in the Crown Heights community. The play follows the aftermath of these events and how individuals related to the victims and related to the community reacted to the horrific events.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Fires in the Mirror and how is it broken?
I believe that the intrusion of this play is when Rabbi Joesph Spielman starts his interview. The play no longer centers on individual thoughts about themselves and now focuses on the killing of Gavin and Rosenbaum. From here to the end of the play we get more insight into people's view and opinion of the two killings.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: the unique factor may have something to do with you? How does the title figure in your answer?
This is the time right after 7 year old black boy Gavin has been murdered and 29 year old Hasidic Yankel Rosenbaum has been stabbed. The citizens of Crown Heights describe their identities and the play shows the differences between people of different races and how they all responded to the the attacks.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will Gavin's family get justice? Will Yankel Rosenbaum's murder get justice? Have the murders of Gavin and Rosenbaum enlarged the racial hate of the Black and Jewish community?
5. Use the narrator of the work to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing the narrator.
The main conflict in this play is between the Black characters and the Lubavitcher characters. The narrator plays both forms of characters and shows how the two differ in their beliefs and how they present themselves. Some argue that the cops and government were lenient to the Jewish community while others were outraged that the boy arrested for stabbing Rosenbaum was released and named innocent. Both killings were against the law, and the characters of this play display their feelings for the justice.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Fires in the Mirror.
Monique Matthews' interview was very page turning as she spoke boldly and loudly, including derogatory language and slang. Caramel Cato's interview is very emotional as it is about his son. He also speaks less of the racial tension and more of the loss of his son.
The play takes place following the racial outbreak in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York on August 1991. A car carrying the Lubavitcher Hasidic rebbe was speeding, ignored the red light, and hit another car. This caused the car to swerve and kill a seven year old Black boy named Gavin Cato. It also injured his cousin. The Black community reacted with protest and some joined together and killed Yankel Rosenbaum, a Hasidic scholar. This caused greater racial outbreak in the Crown Heights community. The play follows the aftermath of these events and how individuals related to the victims and related to the community reacted to the horrific events.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Fires in the Mirror and how is it broken?
I believe that the intrusion of this play is when Rabbi Joesph Spielman starts his interview. The play no longer centers on individual thoughts about themselves and now focuses on the killing of Gavin and Rosenbaum. From here to the end of the play we get more insight into people's view and opinion of the two killings.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: the unique factor may have something to do with you? How does the title figure in your answer?
This is the time right after 7 year old black boy Gavin has been murdered and 29 year old Hasidic Yankel Rosenbaum has been stabbed. The citizens of Crown Heights describe their identities and the play shows the differences between people of different races and how they all responded to the the attacks.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will Gavin's family get justice? Will Yankel Rosenbaum's murder get justice? Have the murders of Gavin and Rosenbaum enlarged the racial hate of the Black and Jewish community?
5. Use the narrator of the work to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing the narrator.
The main conflict in this play is between the Black characters and the Lubavitcher characters. The narrator plays both forms of characters and shows how the two differ in their beliefs and how they present themselves. Some argue that the cops and government were lenient to the Jewish community while others were outraged that the boy arrested for stabbing Rosenbaum was released and named innocent. Both killings were against the law, and the characters of this play display their feelings for the justice.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Fires in the Mirror.
Monique Matthews' interview was very page turning as she spoke boldly and loudly, including derogatory language and slang. Caramel Cato's interview is very emotional as it is about his son. He also speaks less of the racial tension and more of the loss of his son.